The #1 Movie Review, Analysis, Question and Answer Site

Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)

Synopsis:
In 1939 William Franklin, an anti-Franco veteran of the bloody Spanish Civil War, arrives as first-ever lay teacher in a strict Catholic Reformatory and Industrial School for wayward boys. He soon learns the academic challenge is formidable, many boys being still illiterate, but gradually earns their trust, respect, in time almost devotion, with 'paternal' kindness, making the layman the opposite of the cruel prefect, brother John, who frequently administers painful and humiliating punishments, even the gentle, old superior Father Damian has no authority against his disciplinary mandate from the grim bishop Conlon. Slowly even class rebel Liam Mercier is turned around, trough his gift for literature. After Franklin dares stop the sadist's penny-weighted strap severely striking 'sinful scum' for a futility, the whole dorm is treated to an icy night outdoors, arms outstretched wearing only shorts. Brother Mac's mind may mean to educate well, his flesh is too weak for celibacy, so the coy, pretty new boy becomes his latest pederastic lust-object, sworn to suffer sodomy in silence- even devoutly confessing to Father O'Driscoll his fear to have lost his innocence during painful rape costs him an endless cold shower, shivering stark-naked before his tormentor. Constructing a nativity stall for the village church allows Franklin's class to grow close, have fun and earn praise, but after the Peters brothers cross the forbidden red lines to hug each-other on Christmas night across the wall separating the age sections, John punishes their 'blasphemous abomination' (?!) by publicly flogging their bare backs to bloody pulp till Franklin arrives. Still the prefect is capable of viler abuse: Liam, who sent a boy to get Franklin and received a book with dedication from that 'communist', privately gets the sturdy strap in the face till even secret-blackmailed brother Mac can't watch the orgy of child-abuse any more, but now Franklin arrives so late...
Resource Links:

Reviews & Analyses: Song for a Raggy Boy

Tell the world what you think about Song for a Raggy Boy. Post a Review / Analysis!

Post a Review / Analysis
Earn QUA for FREE by contributing to MovieQUA!

Login required. Reviews / Analyses cannot be changed once submitted - please post carefully! No URLs!
Title
Required. An introduction to your Review / Analysis
Body
Required. Post your Review / Analysis in as much detail and as personally as you want. This is your chance to share your innermost thoughts on Song for a Raggy Boy
Image
Optional. You can include an image to complement your Analysis
Answer Humanoid Test
Six + CAPTCHA Image =

Latest Questions

Be the first to share a Song for a Raggy Boy question!

Post Question
Earn QUA for FREE by contributing to MovieQUA!

Login required. Questions cannot be changed once submitted - please post carefully! No URLs!
Question Title
Required. A catchy introduction to your question
Full Question
Required. Describe in detail exactly what you want to know
Question Category
Plot and Symbolism
Fact vs Fiction
Behind the Scenes
Movie Music
Actors and Actresses
Required. Pick what makes sense!
Answer Humanoid Test
Six + CAPTCHA Image =

Six years after Fiza's (Karisma Kapoor) brother, Aman (played by Hrithik Roshan) disappears during the 1993 Mumbai ri...
"Blue Mountain State," from Lionsgate and Robbins' Varsity Pictures, is a half-hour scripted comedy in the vein of "A...
Lieutenant Joe Rossi is 1st Officer on a Liberty Ship in a great convoy bound from Halifax to Murmansk. After German ...
In the Post-World War II, in Los Angeles, a criminal shots and kills a police officer in the middle of the night. Wit...